Twinkletoes
by MouseMaster42
Summary: Naru does, in fact, know how to dance. His brother taught him, only to accidentally steal Naru's childhood crush for himself. When Mai invites Naru to her high school dance three years later as last resort, will he be able to redeem himself? Or will his own social awkwardness trip him up again? Threeshot fluff. NaruMai, some LinMadoka, rated T for extremely mild language.
1. Chapter 1

**I realized it's been forever since I wrote something cute and fuzzy and Ghost Hunt related. XD I made all of the random characters up on the spot. No significance whatsoever. I just like saying 'Noll and Nell.'**

**My last fic that was even remotely like this was _Ruffled Feathers_, and this is much more developed, but ships cheesy/stupid NaruMai the same way. XD I love those two so much. We even got some LinMadoka here as well. Pairings FTW!**

**Disclaimer: Ghost Hunt belongs to Shiho Inada and Fuyumi Ono. If only I were that cool.**

**Please read, enjoy, and review.**

**~oOo~**

**Chapter 1**

**~Oct 4th, 1999: 3:51 pm~**

Oliver Davis glanced up from his book, blue eyes boring into the closed library doors in a way that suggested that they wouldn't be closed for much longer. Lin set his computer aside, bracing for impact.

Sure enough, Eugene Davis bounded through less than five seconds later, pale face flushed, a huge grin on his face. His eyes skipped over his brother, who looked annoyed at being interrupted, and went straight for Lin. "She said yes!" he proclaimed joyously. "Lizzy said that she'd go to the fall festival with me!"

Lin swung his legs off of the window seat and held his hand out to high-five his younger friend. At fourteen years old, going to a dance with a girl was a pretty big deal, even for somebody as charismatic as Gene. "Well done," he chuckled, thinking that it hadn't been that long since he was fourteen years old. Time flew.

"Yeah, good job Genie," Oliver agreed, but his voice was distant, and he had already buried his nose in his book again.

"Oh come on, _Olivia_," Gene teased, ruffling his brother's hair and prying the book from his hands. "We'll find you a date before the festival."

Oliver flushed and made a grab for his book, but Eugene dangled it just out of reach.

"Stop worrying. We've got you covered," he said determinedly. "Don't we, Lin?"

Lin's dark eyes twinkled. "Of course we do. What about Nell Fisher? She likes you, you know."

Oliver let out a moan. "Not Nell the nerd…!"

"When you're as introverted as you are there isn't a whole lot to choose from," Lin commented sagely.

"I don't care; I'm not going with Nell Fisher."

"But it'd be so cute!" Gene laughed, leaping up to sit on the desk table and flick Oliver's forehead as he sang, "Noll and Nell, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N—"

"Stop," Noll groaned. "I'll just go by myself."

"Aw, you can't do that," Gene pouted. "It's the neighborhood festival. Everybody's a couple!"

"Then I won't go."

"Don't be like that," Eugene said condescendingly. "Look, even Lin's got a date, and he's as quiet as you are."

Noll lifted his head at that. "Lin has a date?"

"But he won't tell me who it is," Gene beamed, leaning forward so he was shoulder-to-shoulder with his brother. He flashed Noll a conspiratorial smile and said in a stage whisper, "Do you think he finally asked Madoka—?"

Lin, in a moment of childishness not befitting of a college student, threw a pillow at Gene's head. "NO. It's not her."

"Then who is it?" Gene demanded, whipping the pillow right back.

"Wait," Noll blurted confusedly. "Lin has a crush on…Ms. Mori?"

"My God you're dense!" Gene cried. "He's only loved her since he first clapped eyes on her!"

Noll was looking at Lin disbelievingly. "Seriously? Our Lin?"

"Don't you think it's cute?" Gene giggled, interlacing his fingers as Lin fell back onto the window seat, clutching the pillow to his face to hide his blush. "Honestly Noll, I'm beginning to wonder what you'd do with a girl if you ever had a crush on one. I mean, it's not like you're plucky enough to _kiss _somebody…"

"I would too," Oliver argued. "If I really liked her."

Gene tilted his head back and laughed at the idea. "I bet you don't even know how to dance!"

"It can't be that hard if _you_ can do it."

Eugene took the insult in stride. "My poor, socially-deprived bookworm of a brother," he said lightly, pulling Oliver from his chair. "If you ever want to become a functioning member of the dating society, you'll have to learn to dance."

"Maybe I don't want to function in society," Noll quipped, letting his brother swing him around the room playfully. "Maybe I'll just be an angsty adult living in the university dorm living off of instant ramen and asking Grace Potter to the festival instead of the woman he's apparently loved for four years…"

"_HEY,_" Lin growled from the window seat.

"Wait," Gene paused. "You asked _Grace Potter_ to the festival?"

"Yes I did," Lin said triumphantly, daring Eugene to say something.

Gene limited himself to an appreciative wolf-whistle and gave his twin a once-over. "How'd you know about this?"

"It's the only other girl besides Mum and Ms. Mori that he talks to on a regular basis," Noll said smugly.

Gene rolled his eyes. "You could just call her Madoka. She doesn't mind."

"When I'm done learning from her, maybe."

Gene's eyes lit up. "Does that mean you'll call me 'Mr. Davis' while I teach you to dance?"

"No, don't be stupid."

"Worth a shot," Gene smirked and dragged Noll's hand down to his waist. "You'll have to be a bit more confident about things if you want to appeal to the ladies."

"Yeah, but when I'm trying to appeal to the ladies I won't be dancing with my brother who's just as tall as me," Noll fumbled helplessly, trying to take a step back.

"It's fine, you're just awkward," Gene chided, moving Oliver's hand back to where it was supposed to be. "You'll be completely fine once you get going. Lin, do you have any classical music on your computer?"

Lin pulled up some piano piece and went back to typing his essay, giving the brothers some privacy.

"It's just a series of steps," Eugene was explaining brightly, obviously taking great joy from Noll's discomfort. "You're good at memorizing, so this should be easy for you."

The other boy mimicked the footsteps in silence, committing them to memory.

"And as for the girls," Gene went on conversationally. "You have options besides Nell the nerd. There's Catherine, from the flat down the street? Or Robin, from our chemistry class at school?"

"Robin's nice," Noll said in a small voice.

"And drop-dead gorgeous," Gene was quick to say. "She's actually a friend of Lizzy's—I could put in a word for her about you, if you like?"

"Sure, Gene," Noll said tiredly, letting his brother guide him in large circles around the library floor.

**~March 7th, 2001: 4:40 pm~**

"I don't know why I bothered asking," Mai was saying. Oliver Davis jerked in his seat, pretending that he hadn't zoned out for the majority of her rant, lost in memories of a sunny library and a book that he had never gotten the chance to finish.

"Sorry, what?" he asked dazedly, realizing that she was waiting for an answer to a question he hadn't heard.

"Jeez, you could at least pretend to listen!" she snapped, tossing her bangs out of her face. "I just asked if you could_ stand_ coming with me to my school's spring formal."

"What, a cute girl like you and nobody's asked you out?" he couldn't resist teasing.

Her face flushed. "I wouldn't be here if I had another option, Naru," she said sharply. "But all of my friends are going and I haven't been asked yet. And because it's a formal you need a partner to get in…But you know what, forget it. I'll just find somebody else and…"

"I didn't say I wouldn't go," he said quickly, fumbling in the desk drawer for his calendar. "When is it?"

"The fourteenth," she said, suddenly extremely shy as she fidgeted in front of his desk. "At eight."

"Okay," he said crisply, scrawling a note on the correct date. "I'll pick you up, alright?"

She fidgeted even more. "Is that really okay? I mean…" Her voice resumed its normal, chiding tones as she continued, "I don't want to go with you if you're going to be a jerk."

"No, I'll be nice," he promised. "You said it's a formal, right?"

"I—erm—yeah," she stammered. "Well—great. Thanks."

"Not a problem, Mai. Do I need any paperwork? I don't go to your school."

"Uh, yeah…I'll get that to you…" She stumbled for the door, pausing in the opening to shoot him a final incredulous look. "Can you even dance, Naru?"

"Your confidence in my ability to exist in a social function is astounding, Mai."

"So…yes?"

"Of course I can dance."

She flushed again. "Okay then," she said awkwardly. "I'll see you on the fourteenth then."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Looking forward to it."

She hovered in the doorway for another beat, looking like she wanted to ask him something else.

He glanced up. "If you've got nothing else to do besides stare at me, could you make some tea?"

"Sure." Whatever moment existed between them was lost, and she left his office quietly, closing the door behind her.

He tapped his pen impatiently on the calendar—on the date of his first dance since he was fourteen years old—and stared calmly at the door, waiting for it to open again.

**~oOo~**

**There are two more chapters dealing with the dance itself and documenting what actually went down at the festival. I've got the second one written already, so your reviews will determine how speedily I'll post and whether or not I need to tweak it at all. ^_^**

**If you enjoyed, please review this fluffiness. XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**You lovely reviewers have spoken. ^_^**

**Thank you _Emina105_; Naru always gives me trouble. I tired harder on this chapter, but he still feels kind of weird. Glad it's not distracting. ~ Thank you _Noesis_; Yeah, simplistic's a good word. Not a lot of thought put into it. XD ~ Thank you _lovelyrosegirl_; I'm glad that you like it. ~ Thank you _lil and tiny_; Noll and Nell just rolls off of the tongue, doesn't it? ~ And thank you _Amthyst_; Naru always is difficult for me to write. I'm used to writing more flamboyant characters, so between Lin-San and Naru I always seem to have trouble keeping them in character. XD**

**Seriously thank you. ^_^ I live off of reviews. **

**Disclaimer: Ghost Hunt doesn't belong to me. ::sadface:: I also apologize again for the OOC-ness, I'm just extremely entertained by the idea of Naru as a bit less hard-skinned and Lin as a bit more sarcastic than they are in the anime/manga. **

**Once again, there is no significance to the background characters. Please read, enjoy, and review!**

**~oOo~**

**Chapter 2**

**~March 14th, 2001: 7:29 pm~**

"You look sharp," Lin commented, finally unable to keep quiet about the way that his charge was preening himself anxiously in front of the mirror. "Look!" he pretended to gasp. "A shirt that isn't black, and you aren't even in the hospital."

"You're about to be," Oliver fired back peevishly as he made for the door. "I'm hoping to be back by midnight, but I really don't know. Don't wait up."

"Wait—" Lin caught the sleeve of Naru's shirt and whirled him around.

He groaned when he saw the camera in Lin's hand. "Must we?"

"Your parents would want photographic evidence of this," Lin said firmly, snapping off a few pictures despite the fact that Naru was scowling. It wasn't like he'd smile anyway even if he were in a better mood, so nothing lost there. "Your first self-instigated date…Madoka and Mrs. Davis will be proud."

"Mai instigated it, actually," Naru muttered awkwardly, hand hovering over the door handle. "And it's not a date. It's more of a favor…"

"It is so a date," Lin teased. "You're going _dancing_ for God's sake. Now go." He gave Oliver a little shove through the doorway. "Wouldn't want you to keep Taniyama-San waiting."

"It's not a date, Lin!"

**~7:46 pm~**

Picking up Mai was honestly not as awkward as he thought it'd be. He showed up at her apartment, rang the doorbell, and she came bobbing right out, all energy and smiles, and despite being delayed by Lin and his stupid Kodak moment, they made the train with a few minutes to spare.

The awkward bit came on the train, where he was able to appreciate her dress in the full light, but wasn't sure if it'd be polite to comment. Like all of her skirts, it was a bit short.

She ended up saving him. "You look nice in a suit," she said coolly. "Wish you'd wear white more often."

"That's what Lin said," he sighed, plucking at the collar of his shirt, which—as a concession to tradition—was white. The rest of his suit was still black. "You look nice in a dress."

It was a cute thing, really: all ruffles and gossamer layers, mostly white but carrying the slightest of pink tinges, brought out whenever she flushed, like she was now.

She was saved from having to respond by the train stopping. She reached out and grabbed Naru's hand without asking, and he didn't dare say anything about it as she led him to her school, fearing that she'd let go if he did. The school was massive and almost exactly as he remembered it, minus a certain building that had apparently collapsed soon after he had left and plus what seemed like several thousand people, a couple hundred paper lanterns, and infinite streamers and artificial flowers. It looked like something straight out of a shojo manga, not that he would ever voice that observation aloud.

He was immediately dragged into the worst of the crowds by the main entrance and had several people introduced to him so quickly that he wasn't sure whose name belonged to whom.

"And this is Na—Shibuya," Mai fumbled over his name. "Kazuya Shibuya." He caught a few of the nearby girls grin at the mention of his name and suddenly wished he was anywhere but there, but Mai's small hand was still clasped around his wrist, and he didn't have the heart to pull away.

They made it through the main gates without incident and were nearly blown backwards as they walked into the main courtyard by the wave of sound emanating from two massive stacks of speakers. He instantly had a headache: the dreaded pop music.

"C'mon, Naru," Mai shouted at him over the cheesy lyrics.

He shook his head, finally succeeding in untangling his fingers from hers.

"You said you danced!" she accused, her thin eyebrows coming together to scowl at him.

"Not like…_that._" He waved a hand towards the mass of writhing bodies in the central space, heat and hormones radiating off of them like steam.

"Then how do you dance?"

He hesitated. "Ballroom. Foxtrot. Waltz. Not this."

She crossed her arms underneath her chest. "If you're expecting me to just stand here with you this whole night…!"

"No," he said hurriedly, surprising himself by how much he meant it. "No, you go off and have fun. I'll stay here." He gave her shoulder a little push towards the dance floor. "Go on."

She tugged on her lip, obviously conflicted.

"It's fine, Mai," he assured her. "Go."

"Okay…" she said hesitantly. "You sure you'll be fine here?"

"I'm always fine. I think I can manage."

She turned to leave then, her conscience clear. "I'll check on you at the first slow-dance," she promised before skipping off towards some of her friends.

"Don't worry too much about it," he said dejectedly as he watched her get swallowed up in the crowd, wondering why he had expected anything else.

**~October 9th, 1999: 5:44 pm~**

"Um, Noll?" Lin stammered, elbowing a red-faced Grace out of the way to confirm that it was indeed Oliver Davis crouched idly inside a broom closet. "What are you doing in here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Noll asked back. "Is this some sort of snogging center? I'm sorry; I'll get right out of your way…" He made to get up.

Now Lin was the one flushing, and he reached in to shove Oliver backwards before he could completely get to his feet. "_NO_, it isn't. Grace spilled some juice, so we're looking for paper towels."

"Oh, I believe you just pushed me on some," Oliver grumbled, reaching behind him for a roll, which he passed to Lin, who passed it to Grace, who quickly left to clean up whatever mess she'd made. Lin stayed behind, hovering in the doorway.

"Noll, why are you hiding in the broom cupboard?"

"I'm not hiding. It's remarkably cozy."

"No, seriously, why are you here?"

Oliver sighed hugely and leaned up against the wall. "I just had to get away," he said sullenly.

"From what?"

"The party. All of the happy people. Robin, Nell, Gene…Mum and Dad…everything." He waved his hands above his head, then sighed melodramatically and looked up at his older friend. "Did you ever sort of kind of maybe have a crush on a girl, and just as you'd worked up the courage to ask her to dance, she tells you that she actually likes somebody else?"

"Sort of," Lin said sympathetically, leaning up against the door frame. "Who was it?"

"Doesn't matter now," Oliver replied thickly. He glanced sidelong at Lin. "Has Ms. Mori noticed you with Grace yet?"

"Yeah," Lin laughed humorlessly and swung into the closet to sit down next to Oliver. "And she congratulated me for it. How pathetic is that?"

"And now you're stuck dating a klutz and Mori doesn't even care," Noll cackled, throwing an elbow into Lin's side, venting some of his own angst into mocking Lin's sad love life.

"At least Madoka doesn't like somebody else," Lin teased back, knocking his knee against Oliver's. "So who was it?"

"Doesn't matter," Noll repeated. "She says she likes Gene."

Lin hissed in a breath. "That's…unfortunate."

"Isn't it?" Noll said miserably. "I hate having a chick-magnet for a brother."

"It does make the whole dating situation awkward," Lin conceded. "But I'm sure someday you'll find a girl who'll like you as you, even with your bad-temperament and poor dancing skills."

"And I'm sure that one day Ms. Mori will finally open her eyes and see that you're in love with her."

There was a silence, and then both of them simultaneously rolled their eyes and scoffed at the other's statement.

Oliver sagged back against the wall of the cupboard and jerked his chin towards the door. "You should probably go see if your girlfriend's alright."

Lin muttered something incoherent as he resignedly stood up and stepped out the door. "Are you coming?"

"Give me one good reason why," Oliver declared stubbornly, making to pull the door back shut on himself.

"Don't be a prick."

"I'll stick with my broom closet, thank you, Lin. I won't go back out there to look like a lonely idiot in the corner while my brother dances with the girl I like."

"You don't know that they're dan—"

"Oh yes I do. Gene will dance with anybody." Noll turned away; face half-hidden in shadow. "And everybody wants to dance with him."

**~March 14th, 2001: 9:01 pm~**

Everybody, it seemed, wanted to dance with Mai. He was keeping an eye on her as he haunted the refreshment booth, finally engaging the poor boy manning it's pathetic attempts to start a conversation with him purely for something to do and to distract him from his headache.

"So you're with Tani-chan?" the boy started out.

It took Naru a minute to realize that the boy meant Mai. "Sort of," he said as conversationally as he could. "We're here together, but not…'together.'"

"So you must be her boss, Shibuya-san, right?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Who's asking?"

The boy smiled pleasantly and introduced himself. "Takami Wannabe—I'm in Tani-chan's class. We've known each other since middle school. I've never been able to make her do anything she didn't want to as long as I've known her—how do you manage it?"

"I pay her," Naru said coolly. "Mai talks about me at school?"

"Oh yeah," Tamaki enthused. "She loves her job, man. And she's always got the coolest stories whenever she comes back from one of your business trips."

"We have confidentiality contrac—" Naru started to say unhappily, mentally cursing Mai and her inability to keep her mouth shut.

"Were you really possessed?"

"It was complicated," Naru muttered, noticing that Mai was now dancing—or whatever you called what they were doing: lots of hip-swaying and head-bobbing—with a good-looking guy with chestnut hair and glasses.

Tamaki followed his gaze. "Oh, that's Kyosuke. He's one of the most popular guys in school: a third year. He asked Tani-chan to the dance, you know."

That caught Naru's attention. "Mai told me that nobody asked her."

"Dude, half of the school asked her!" Tamaki laughed. "Jeez, you don't pay much attention to her social life, do you?"

"Look, I'm not…_supposed_ to pay attention to her," Naru said haltingly as he processed that gem of previously unknown information. "Why should I care who likes her or who asks her out? I'm just her boss."

"Sure you aren't," Tamaki drawled knowingly. "But, no offense, Shibuya-San, you've been staring at her all night and look like you're about to drop-kick Kyo-senpai through a window. So why not just ask Tani-chan to dance and get all your cards on the table, yeah?"

"I don't dance," Oliver said firmly, forcing himself to turn his back on her.

**~oOo~**

**This chapter isn't quite as fluffy as the first, but the last chapter is _ridiculously_ cheesy and fluffy, so I feel like it balances out. It also deals with actual dancing, instead of Naru hovering by the sidelines like the awkward turtle that he is. **

**Naru apparently didn't have much luck with the ladies as a kid. He said something to the effect of "If you've got two twins, a good twin and a bad twin, which one would you choose?" in the 12th manga. And Lin-San didn't have much luck either. Poor them. :\**

**Anyway, same deal as last time: reviews and the level of enthusiasm in seeing the conclusion of this piece will determine how quickly the final chapter is posted, so~**

**~Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this took a bit. This is longer than the other two. X_x The response on this piece was so lovely that this really should've been posted sooner, so you have my heartfelt apologies. *bows***

**Thank you to _Guest #1_; I can't stand dull scenes, so I do try and keep things moving along. ~ Thank you to _Guest #2,_ especially for that glorious mental image of Naru as a turtle. ~ Thanks to ; I am hoping that your single dot meant that you enjoyed. ~ Thank you to _Amthyst_; Naru and Lin are quite attractive, but in the anime world, so is everybody else, so. ~ Thank you to _lovenarumai_; I'm always entertained by the possibilities presented by Naru and Lin. ~ Thank you to _RaisedOnRadio_; Yes, I did make the cover myself on MS paint. XD It took a bit. ~ Thank you _Guest #3_; Fret not, the conclusion is here. ~ And a final thank you to _Nommie DaCoolest Meister_; I am very glad that you enjoyed.**

**The reason for the delay on this is that—once again—Naru became extremely OOC in the end and I had to rewrite the majority of his lines. I tried to err on the side of caution, but be warned: Past this point, there is MAJOR fluff and a heck of a lot of NaruMai. You have been warned. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If a whole sentence is in italics, it means they're speaking in English. **

**Please read, enjoy, and review.**

**~oOo~**

**Chapter 3**

**~October 9th, 1999: 10:14 pm~**

"That was a glorious waste of time!" Noll was venting to his adoptive father as they walked home from the festival. Gene was running along ahead with their mother, and Lin and Madoka were walking behind them in uncharacteristically awkward silence.

"What happened?" Martin Davis chuckled. "I thought Genie taught you how to dance?"

"He did, but nobody wanted to," Oliver replied glumly.

"Young master Davis spent the majority of the night hiding in a broom cupboard," Lin commented dryly, causing Noll to whirl around with an embarrassed cry and aim a vicious kick at Lin's shin.

"Sounds like our Noll," Martin grinned, catching Oliver by the shirtsleeve before a fight could erupt on the neighbor's front lawn. "You realize of course…" he started to tell his son.

"I know," Noll cut across him sourly, not in the mood for a lecture, no matter how deserved or well-intentioned. "I've got to come out of the broom closet if I want a chance with the girl."

"Exactly," Martin said soothingly, ruffling Oliver's dark hair affectionately. "You'll get her next time, won't you?"

**~March 14th, 2001: 10:38 pm~**

"Naru!"

He looked up to see Mai dashing towards him, eyes sparkling in the lights, face bright pink.

"They're doing a slow-dance next!" she announced, grabbing him by the elbow. "Come on!" She tugged him out into the sea of dancers before turning to face him. "You'll have to teach me—I've never slow-danced before. I'll probably suck at it."

He tried not to wince at her light language. "Are you sure that you wouldn't rather be dancing with 'Kyo-senpai?'" he couldn't help asking sharply.

She dropped her eyes. "How'd you know about that?"

"I have my ways, 'Tani-chan.'" He clasped her hand in his and let his other hand rest lightly against her waist as the music started, trying his best not to think too much about it. It was just a dance—not supposed to be weird. But it was, and Mai was so tiny that he was almost scared to touch her.

"Please don't call me that," she pleaded, trailing a hesitant hand over his shoulder, obviously equally uncomfortable with skin-on-skin contact. They both winced, but neither of them let go.

"Tamaki's a big mouth," she whined. He continued to look at her imploringly as they started to sway in time with the melody. "Okay fine," she admitted in a rush, crumbling under his stare. "Some people did ask me to the dance, but they were all last minute, I swear! They all asked after I'd asked you."

"Would you rather be with one of them?"

She shook her head fiercely and let a bit more of her weight drop onto his shoulder, actually allowing him to lead her in the dance. "No—I like being with you, Naru. I was even having fun until you started being an overprotective prick."

They danced in silence for a few minutes following that two-sided comment, Naru struggling to not think about the hand that was resting against her hip and come up with something to say that wasn't snarky or work-related. Why were all of their civil conversations about ghosts?

"How're your English lessons coming along?" he asked lamely.

"Okay," she said noncommittally.

"Try me," he challenged, leaning in a little closer so he could look down at her. She seemed small to him—barely coming up to his nose. "I'm fluent."

She gave him a look. "You _would,_" she accused. "Uhm…" She paused, then slurred out, "_Tonight you look very beautiful, I think._"

He couldn't help scoffing a little at her attempt and fired off a quick, self-indulging sentence about how pretty he thought her dress looked on her, knowing that she wouldn't understand.

"Er…" she hesitated. "_I sorry. My English is…not good. You are too fast._"

"I said you looked cute," he said in Japanese. "But you shouldn't call a man _'beautiful.'_ Men are _'handsome.'_"

Her whole face seemed to light up despite his condescending look. "Then you're _'handsome.'_" Her hand slipped from his shoulder to the collar of his shirt. "I don't think I've ever seen you in a tie before, come to think of it."

"Yeah, I don't really like them," he shrugged, being careful not to nudge her hand off. "It's too formal."

"Heaven forbid you look your age," Mai quipped sarcastically, and then, "…Are you bored, Naru?" she asked out of the blue.

"What? No, I'm fine. Why?"

She lowered her eyes and leaned into him a little. "Because you look like you' don't want to be here," she admitted in a small voice.

"No," he insisted. "I'm enjoying myself now."

"'Now'?" she quoted.

"Yeah, now that I'm actually dancing with you instead of talking to your buddy, having to hear about how the whole school's in love with you."

She looked surprised at that, as if she hadn't realized how charismatic she really was. "The whole school doesn't love me," she said softly, her cheeks coloring.

His hand pressed a little harder on her waist. "Not the way Wannabe-san tells it. Which begs the question of why you're here dancing with me, your boss, making things incredibly awkward for everybody involved when you could have the pick of the school? Are _you _bored, Mai?"

She glared up at him. "God! For somebody so smart you can be such an _idiot!_" She punctuated her exclamation with a slap to his chest. "You…you never look at me twice, so why do you have to start caring now?" she continued hotly, tears making the corners of her eyes sparkle. "You don't look at me when I wear a pretty dress, or when I ask you to the biggest dance of the year, or when I dance with the most popular boy at school even though he's a perv, or when I try my English on you even though I _know_ that I'm terrible—you_ never_ look at me like I'm anything more than your dorky little pain-in-the-ass assistant, bringing you tea or the newspaper or something…! Why can't you just for_ once _see that I'm a _girl,_ and I'm trying really really hard to impress you?"

"Why would you want to impress me?"

"…Because _I'm_ always looking at you, Naru. No matter how much of a jerk you are, it's always you. It's always been you. But…I get it. I'm not smart enough for you. I'm not…_perfect_ enough for you. So sorry for wasting your time. You must be bored out of your mind."

He stiffened, digesting what she had said. In the meantime, she pulled her arm off of his shoulders and untangled their fingers, pulling away from him to run back towards the entrance, white dress streaming out behind her.

**~October 9th, 1999: 10:17 pm~**

"Of course I'll get the next girl," Oliver grumbled to his father as they stepped onto the sidewalk leading up to their house. "Gene can't steal _every_ girl I like."

"Oh, I don't know," Martin laughed, watching Gene sweet-talk his mother into a later curfew. "But it's okay to fight him for her a little, if you really love her."

Oliver Davis nodded smugly, bad mood evaporating. "Alright," he said determinedly. "And I'll win too, just you watch."

**~March 14th, 2001: 10:56 pm~**

Without really thinking he ran after her, dodging high-schoolers and not caring that they looked at him like he was crazy. In all honesty, the only thing he could really think about was that he wasn't thinking about anything. His mind was white—blank—except for one thing. One person.

He caught up to her in the entrance corridor. "Mai!" he barked, but she didn't stop. "Mai, wait!" He lunged for her and caught her wrist, tugging her to a stumbling stop. "Mai, listen to me… Don't be an idiot."

She sniffled pitifully and wouldn't look at him.

Realizing that this was as close as he was likely to get, he plowed on regardless, the words tumbling from his mouth in a disorganized rush, his mind still a blur. "Mai, you're the only girl I've ever treated like a girl. You are the only girl I've ever teased, you're the only girl who makes me actually think about whether or not I want to hurt your feelings, and you're the only girl who can give it back to me as fast as I can throw it out, and you're amazing. You're stupid and irrational, but I don't even care because in moments like these you're just so damn perfect that you make me stupid and irrational too. I can't think straight around you. And just because you didn't notice me looking doesn't mean that I wasn't. You are the only girl who I worry about, the only girl I lie awake thinking about, the only girl I call by name, and the only girl I've ever danced with, and any time spent with you—while not necessarily productive—is never wasted."

She blinked tearfully up at him and wiped her nose incredulously on the back of her dress sleeve. "Really?" she hiccupped.

"Yes," he said breathlessly. "You're my dorky little pain-in-the-ass assistant, Mai."

She blinked slowly, unsure. "I...wow, Naru. You really—"

There was probably an end to that sentence, but it was cut off by Naru—plucky Naru—leaning in to kiss her.

Gene had been wrong. He did know what to do with a girl.

Mai went completely tense for a minute, and then relaxed. She even made an unhappy noise when he pulled back for air a few seconds later.

She stared at him for a minute, and then giggled. The sound was so relieved and smug and _cute_, all at the same time, that he couldn't help laughing a little with her.

"Well…this complicates things," he sighed.

Her chocolate eyes widened. "What do you mean? Do you mean the whole boss-employee thing, because—in all honesty—that went completely out the window about twenty minutes ago…"

"I meant Lin. He's going to be all smug and happy and send a long gushing email to my parents, who will reply in equal gushy detail and the whole thing is going to be horribly archived and brought up at Christmas parties and…"

"Why are you always so crabby when other people are happy?" Mai asked, looking startled at the words 'Lin' and 'gushy' being used in the same sentence.

He didn't have a pre-prepared answer to that question.

Thankfully, she rolled her eyes and started talking before he embarrassed himself by blurting the first thing to come to mind. "I think you just enjoy being prickly," she said.

"I think that's it," he agreed contentedly.

"I enjoy the challenge," she said determinedly.

"I guess you'd have to," he agreed again.

"Stop agreeing with me," she snapped, hopping up the steps to get at his eye level, resting her hands on her hips. "I'm starting to wonder if that kiss screwed up your brain or something."

He smirked, recognizing her trademark anger to hide the fact that she was flustered. "First time kissing a boy?" he teased.

"Heck no!" she shouted. "How would you even know?"

"Because I think you would've laughed at me if you had any prior experience."

She blinked, belatedly figuring out the implications of what he'd just said. He raised an eyebrow, daring her to say something.

She looked on the verge of a snarky comment, but instead said, "Come on. Let's go back in. It's only eleven."

"Do we have to go back in?" he murmured, thinking about kissing her again just to delay the awkward transition back into populated society. Everybody would know that they kissed if they went back in together now. On the other hand, everybody would probably know by the next day of school anyway, given Mai's social connections.

"Oh…" he finally said. "This might make cases a bit awkward, what with Monk-San and Matsuzaki-San and Hara-San and…everybody..."

"This is just occurring to you now?" Mai burst out. "Jeez, maybe you should've thought about this sooner if you were worried!"

"Bit late now," he said dismissively, hopping up a few steps to lean in close to her and ask softly, "Are you really dead set on going back inside?"

She laced their fingers together instead, dragging him up the stairs. "Duh, idiot. The party's boring if you're only hovering at the edge."

He sighed resignedly and muttered to himself, "Got to get out of the broom cupboard."

"What was that?" she asked quizzically, but his sheepish explanation was lost in the music and light and sound and hope and chaos and timeless satisfaction of that one night, at that one high school, and in that one girl who had singled him out to dance with, and she was content enough—rocking gently in the circle of his arms—not to ask him again.

~**October 10****th****, 1999: 12:07 am~**

"Noll?" Gene whispered across the bedroom. "Are you still awake?"

"Am now," Noll replied fuzzily, shifting on his mattress to squint at the dark blob that was his brother. "What?"

"Are you mad at me?" Gene asked quietly. "For dancing with Robin?"

"I'm not mad at you, Genie," Oliver said exasperatedly. "Just let me sleep."

"I'm sorry," Gene blurted. "I didn't realize you liked her until it was too late. I'm really sorry, Noll. I mean, there was no way for me to know and I…"

"It's okay," Noll reassured him. "It was just a crush."

"But it wasn't a crush. How long have you liked this girl?" There was a rustle as Gene propped himself up an elbow to glare at Oliver.

"Awhile, I guess."

"Don't be modest. You've liked her ever since we switched to the advanced science track, haven't you?"

"I thought you said there was no way for you to know," Oliver huffed, bunching his blankets up to his chin.

"Well, it's obvious now that I see it," Gene said defensively, falling back onto his pillow with a sigh. "And I just want you to know that I'm really sorry. Look, I'll back off if you want, I swear. You can date her. I don't even like her."

"It's fine. I'm really over her," Noll said firmly, looking up at the ceiling. "I'll find somebody even better someday, and I swear that we'll be so perfect not even you will be able to separate us."

"Hope so," Gene said thoughtfully, and then sat up again. "But you really do have to stop being such a dork. No girl's going to fall in love with somebody as narcissistic and melodramatic as you."

"Somebody will," Noll said firmly. "She's out there, Gene. It's just a matter of being brave enough to find her."

Silence.

And then…

"Thanks for teaching me how to dance."

**~oOo~**

**Thank you by dropping by this fluffy corner of. I hope you enjoyed. **


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